Meta cleared its first regulatory hurdle Wednesday to construct a massive data center in Louisiana when the Public Service Commission agreed to Entergy’s request to hire consultants and attorneys for its application to build three new power plants to accommodate the project.
Commissioner Foster Campbell said Meta’s investment could be $10 billion or more to build an artificial intelligence data center in Holly Ridge, just east of Monroe.
That is in addition to Entergy’s planned $3.2 billion investment in three natural gas power plants — two near the Meta data center in Richland Parish another north of Baton Rouge — to provide electricity to the center if the PSC approves Entergy’s application.
Campbell told USA Today Network that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is expected to initially create 500 permanent jobs with an average salary exceeding $80,000.
The Public Service Commission regulates monopoly utilities in Louisiana.
“This is the best news we’ve had in North Louisiana in a long time,” said Campbell, whose PSC District 5 covers all of northern Louisiana. “I’m for it 1,000%. This data center is a godsend for Northeast Louisiana and Northwest Louisiana.
“It’s going to happen and I think it will expand.”
The five-member PSC voted unanimously to approve hiring the consultants for the project.
“We’re all glad to see that,” District 4 Commissioner Mike Francis said of the project.
Entergy is seeking to fast track PSC approval for the new power plants, hoping to secure the regulatory green light by October 2025.
Meta plans to build its data center on the state-owned 1,440-acre Franklin Farms Megasite in Holly Ridge.